This invention relates to a friction clutch hand tool in the style of a socket wrench for use in tightening and loosening conventional mechanical fasteners. While the preferred embodiment herein is directed to use of the tool on a common hexagonal fastener, there is no limitation on the shape of the fastener that this tool can be applied to, so long as the internal shape of the socket matches that of the fastener. The only limitation on the application of this tool is that the fastener must have an outer surface that is physically susceptible to receiving a female socket to tighten or loosen it.
Friction clutch socket wrenches are generally well known in the art. See, e.g., Korty, U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,673; Cartwright, U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,339; Seablom, U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,739; and Pratt, U.S. Pat. No. 2,469,572. In order to harness a friction force, however, these previous inventions have utilized multiple roller and spring systems that bear against pins and stops strategically located in a complex wrench assembly. Previous inventions have also consistently brought the friction force to bear on a member that is encased within the wrench assembly. A conventional socket is then connected to this member by means of a traditional square drive.
The present invention improves on the prior art in several respects. It consists of a wrench driving a socket that is split into two or more pieces along its cylindrical axis. The wrench slides over the outside circumference of the assembled socket. Its improved design uses the torque applied to the wrench by the user to provide circumferential friction directly to the outside surface of the socket. A traditional square drive connection to the socket thus becomes unnecessary. The split socket provides improved access to fasteners in locations that would otherwise be hard to reach. The split socket also provides improved grip on the fastener when used in conjunction with the wrench, since the wrench tends to clamp and compress the socket over the fastener when in use. The tool as a whole operates on a fastener to which a wire or cable is attached without first having to disconnect that wire or cable. The simple design of the tool as a whole facilitates manufacture. The novel design of the wrench obviates the need for a mechanical direction selector to set whether torsion will be applied to the socket in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Instead, the wrench is capable of receiving a socket from either of two opposite sides, and the side from which the socket is received dictates the selected direction of torsion.